The nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2 is here!

The nVidia GeForce 9 series of graphics cards is here and nVidia is kicking off the show by flaunting its dual-GPU monster – the GeForce 9800 GX2! This release comes in to compete with AMD/ATi’s Radeon 3870 X2 and packs quite a punch.

The last time nVidia made a dual-GPU graphics card was the GeForce 7950 GX2, which was not a big hit in terms of performance compared to single-GPU alternatives that quickly succeeded it. However, the GeForce 9800 GX2 is based on the same double PCB architecture as the GeForce 7950 GX2 and, although is not clocked as fast as a single GeForce 8800 Ultra, it definitely makes up for two GeForce 8800 GTSes.

Imagine running two of these cards in a quad-SLI configuration! Hopefully, with improved drivers, multi-GPU setups should be able take more advantage of this raw GPU processing power. In addition to its great performance, the GeForce 9800 GX2 is also the first nVidia graphics card to support nVidia’s HybridPower technology, which essentially should allow for dynamic power management depending upon 2D or 3D load.